Tide
by losse
Summary: Why can we not capture the essence of time and cage it within a house of glass? Can we not crystallize it, that we may preserve the place we most treasure? Imagine that we could. How much would it cost, and how much would it be worth?


Disclaimer- Why do I write these? You all know I own it… is dragged off to jail

AN- This is a companion of sorts to Flow, but of course is independent. It deals with the same subject, the passing of time. In fact, a few days ago, I saw a girl who may have been my best friend from many years back. I would not have given her a second glance were it not for my mother who pointed her out. I still don't know if it was actually her, but if it was, I don't even know how to express the heart-rending feeling as I realized how different she was from the girl I remember. My best friend was an ordinary person, the type you'd not even notice in a crowd, but this girl stood out for her brilliant dyed hair and the boy she was with. In that moment I experienced the emotions I was trying to get across in Flow, that need to go back. It hurt so much…

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_stop _

_yume o miteta no_

_utsukushiku nagai yume_

_stop_

_fukaku shizuka ni_

_kanashimi o nemurasete_

_yasashisa ni yureteta nara _

_shiawase datta hazu demo_

_toki ga ugoku_

stop

i was dreaming

a long, beautiful dream

stop

putting sadness

into a deep, quiet sleep

if you were touched by kindness

you should have been happy, but

time moves on

from_ kaze no uta _(Fushigi Yuugi-- Nuriko character song)

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The moon reflects light from the sun. Were it not for the sun, we may never have known the existence of the moon. Yet with its borrowed radiance, it is the moon which creates the phenomenon of tides.

Time is a river. We follow its course, some perhaps more slowly than others, but none stopping. A crash into its shores may bring us to a place we have already seen, only to continue. You cannot go back forever, lest the waters of time tear you apart. Still, all rivers run to the sea, and the sea itself is always susceptible to the cycle we call tides.

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The most casual of passersby on a certain street this night would have seen a young woman seated on a park bench, back turned to reveal shockingly red hair. A closer look might have noted that this young woman was in fact a young man, staring off into space with tears tracing paths down his face. He seemed to be saying something, in a voice that was almost incoherent thanks to his choking sobs.

"_Doushite … konna ni kurushii no?" _

"Why is it that… it hurts so much?"

Concern may have prompted the suggestion that he talk to his friends, but what no one could have known was that he was crying because he _had _talked to them. He cried for what had changed, for people he had cared for and who were now gone, replaced by strangers. The people he had seen… they were not his friends. The people he had once fought with would never have become so ordinary, he knew it. But then where did they go? He wanted them back; he wanted them to laugh at him for his foolishness and tell him that nothing was different.

"I _am_ foolish," he whispered to the night air. "Aren't I? It's all gone, it's not like it's going to come back."

"It can." A sibilant voice echoed through his mind, and he turned to see a slender youkai staring at him unblinkingly. He could perceive no real threat, only a chillingly ominous feeling. "I can bring you where you wish to go. You could stay, for a price."

For a long moment, he did not raise his head. Finally, emerald eyes met silver, and he spoke in a tightly controlled tone. "What will it cost?"

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AN cont'- The direction of this fic is one that is both clear and enigmatic. Naturally, it will follow the arrow of time into further disorder, as dictated by generally accepted science, but which way is that? That is the question posed by the summary: to salvage the past, or not? Please tell me what you think about this beginning.


End file.
